Thanksgiving 2012

Hey y'all. So we went to Texas for Thanksgiving. And it was a wonderful, much-needed break. Frankly, Mr. Snoop's residency application process has been sort of hellacious. And being the supportive cheerleader wife has completely wiped me out. Being back home was really nice. As much as I love my med school friends, it was great for Mr. Snoop and I to hang out with my Austin friends, none of whom are in the medical field. Nice to escape the "everything revolves around med school" world for a week. The trip was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively.

We spent lots of time outside. After living in such a cold climate for 4 years, I've come to realize how good being outside is for the soul. Cheesy but true. My friends have a tradition of playing football the day after Thanksgiving. And before that, Mr. Snoop, Chris (my brother), and I did the Austin Trukey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. It was a nice, easy 5 mile run. Next year I'm going to get my act together and make us costumes. Here we are afterward:

We also went to the Texas / TCU game. Which was really quiet and we lost. Not unexepectedly, I'm afraid. Here we are with horns up, nonetheless. Chris pointed out that because of the shadows we all look like demon children from the mouth of hell in this picture. That and I really need a tan. See above about the outdoors being good for the soul.

Hey, at least our band is freakin awesome:

I'm back in New York but Mr. Snoop is still in Texas having the greatest time going hunting with the dudes in my family. He has an interview this weekend, which was originally Nov. 1, but there was this little weather event known as Sandy, so his flight got canceled. So in conclusion: I'm retiring my pom-poms for a little bit and allowing myself to be completely freaked out by this whole residency application process. Thanks for hangin' in there with us, in advance.

10K Update

Remember that? How I was training for a Halloween 10K? Well, Mr. Snoop and I ran it and had the best time. I have had some issues in the past with running, and doing this 10K totally got me over all of those. My goal was to run the entire thing (no breaks or walking), which I accomplished. Not having a set time to make and just enjoying myself allowed me to let go of all my "issues." It was so much fun. Since it was Halloween-themed and in the Halloween capitol of the universe, Sleepy Hollow, nearly everyone wore costumes. Some of them were pretty amazing. And oh yeah, the Headless Horseman was there! He even started the race.

Those of you who have known me for a looong time know that I dressed up as the Headless Horseman for Halloween one year (5th grade? 6th grade? Mom??). A little bit of foreshadowing on God's part, no? So here we are pre-race with the man, the myth, the legend.

Yes, our "costumes" were super homemade. But also super cheap. You can't see, but my socks said "eek!" in rhinestones, naturally. One of the best parts about this run was that everyone had their homes totally done up in Halloween decorations. And all the neighbors were out cheering us on, also in full costume. We really had the best time. No, we did NOT run together. I am way too crazy and Mr. Snoop is way too fast for that. This was Mr. Snoop's first fun run, can you believe it? Here we are after the run, not looking nearly as cute.

This is so sad and certainly cast a pall on the aftermath of the race, but someone died on the course. I found out a couple days later. So horrible and tragic. He had a heart problem, I believe. He was running just ahead of me, and though I did not see him fall, I was there right after. People were running backwards through the course screaming for a doctor. A doctor and nurse came right away, and it was right next to a local hospital, but it must have been too late. I felt so horrible, but I did not stop. I have nothing to offer, since people were already giving CPR. I would have just been in the way. So I said a prayer and kept running. Ugh. Guilt.

So aside from that awfulness, I am so glad I ran. And will definitely keep running as long as the weather allows for it. Which leads me to my other update...

SNOW. Already. Like 5 inches last night. I've already broken out the fleece-lined leggings. So grateful to have power and heat.

Sandy

Well, we made it through the storm. With more than a touch of survivor's guilt. We had flashlights and candles a plenty; a hurricane lantern; a battery operated radio; a cooler filled with ice; and pots, pans, and a bathtub full of water.

So at about 6:00pm on Monday, I looked outside and saw that our neighbor's giant, beautiful tree looked like someone was shaking a handful of cooked spaghetti. At that point, we decided to retreat with the cats to the basement. We live in a tiny, two room cottage. It was built in the late 1800s as a hunting lodge and is rock solid. So much so that though we live on a main road, you can't hear the cars. Well, we could feel our little house shaking from the winds even from down in the basement. It was really pretty scary. The cats were spooked and alternated between hiding inside the boxspring or trying to see out the tiny basement windows. The wind sounded like a 747 was taking off on our roof.

The next morning we woke up fully prepared to have a tree on our roof. We didn't. Our neighbor's spaghetti tree lost most of its branches, and they have another tree down. After all our preparations, we never lost power. We were so, so lucky. Living on a main road may explain how we kept power. We are so grateful. I know people who are still without power, 8 days later. The devastation is really pretty sobering, especially in the community where I work, which is right along the Long Island Sound. Not to mention Staten Island, where Mr. Snoop and I went on Sunday.

Last week was pretty much a wash. Since the town where I work is just now getting power back more than a week later, I did not work in the office last week. Mr. Snoop is on his ER rotation and saw lots of hurricane related stuff. The neighborhood where we regularly run is trashed. I did 4 miles yesterday and still there are wires down, trees down, trees on homes, etc. So sad.

What I learned

- If you don't have a plug for your tub, duct tape works just great. Better than a plug, even.

- So glad Mr. Snoop and I filled up our cars Sunday night. Since I did not have work last week, we still have half a tank each. I'm grateful for my little hybrid civic. 38 miles per gallon is pretty marvelous right about now.

- If Mr. Snoop and I stay in this area for his residency, we've decided that we will invest in a good generator and emergency supplies. Between the hurricanes and the nor'easters and the blizzards, people are constantly losing power/water here. The infrastructure here is just so old and they do not properly keep it up or repair it. I could go all political and talk about taxes, unions, etc; but I won't. We're just going to keep a supply of water and nonperishables on hand. I think you have to, if you live up here.

My work is doing another run to Staten Island to hook up with Presbyterian Disaster Assitance this week. Having been there on Sunday, I can tell you that they really do need your thoughts and prayers. Thanks, y'all.